When a photographer conducts a photographic session or sitting either outdoors, in a studio or at some other location a series of pictures are taken of a subject. A number of rolls of film may be exposed in the session. Alternatively, if sheet rather than roll film is employed a plurality of sheets of film may be exposed. The rolls or sheets are usually recorded in a log book in which the photographer enters details such as the date on which the photographs were taken, identification of the customer and/or subject and other information. The roll or stack of sheet film is correspondingly marked. There is a real danger that incorrect entries may be made or that entries or the book may go astray. This causes difficulty in returning prints from the film to the right customer or to the correct photographer where one processing laboratory is responsible for processing film for many photographers.
Once film is exposed it is usual to produce proofs of all of the exposures and to return to the customer with the proofs to enable a selection of desired ones of the photographs to be made from the set of proofs. Thus, a photographer attends the session or sitting and a representative may then return to the customer with proofs to enable a selection to be made. After the selection process the desired photographs are printed and returned to the customer. In many cases therefore two or sometimes three separate visits are necessary, i.e. one by the photographer, another by the representative and perhaps another to deliver the prints. Not only is this time consuming and expensive but sales are sometimes lost because of the delay between the sitting at which the customer may be enthusiastic about a purchase to the time when the proofs are presented at which time his enthusiasm may have waned. Also considerable travelling between the location at which the sitting took place the the laboratory may be necessary and this is costly and this cost is passed onto the customer.
The need to prepare proofs is itself time consuming and expensive. Whilst all of the exposed film needs to be proofed only a small number of shots may be acceptable to the customer and all proofs may sometimes be destroyed after they have been viewed. The printing of proofs adds to the expense because time and materials are involved in their production.